Docklands Light Railway

London is a huge city. It is not surprising why so many kinds of public transport are required. Millions of people commute to work every day. Obviously, they need some transport to help them. The Docklands Light Railway is a part of Transport for London. It gives people this alternative of changing the bus or a car into the London DLR. London DLR is sometimes crowded but how would London operate without it? DLR is another alternative of transport in this huge busy city, which is London. DLR is a light metro system, which operates in London since 1987. The DLR has its four major destinations – East to Beckton, Woolwich Arsenal and London City Airport, West to Tower Gateway and the City of London, South to Lewisham and north to Stratford. It is easy to notice, the DLR reaches the extreme points in every side.

Main extensions

Over the existence of the light railway it has had its four main extensions. They surely brought the popularity and crowds of costumers! In 1994 the connection between Popular and Royal Docks was opened. The Lewisham extension was the second, it turned out to be very profitable and brought much money to the service of DLR. The third extension resulted in the exposure of the five-year programme of investment for public transport in London; Ken Livingstone who was the Mayor of London in 2004 exposed it. In 2005 the route from Canning Town to King George was opened. The developments during the third extension brought even more passengers and money to the Transport for London. In 2011 the final extension took place, it was based on opening the line from Canning Town to Stratford and Stratford International train station, which provided a direct connection to the Olympic place in London.

Lifts and elevators

As it is presented the London DLR had many extensions and renovations since opening and that is how it made itself such popular transport in London. Nowadays it has 40km of route and 45 stations. The wheelchair uses do not have to worry that the stations are not facilitated enough. Lifts and escalators mostly access platforms. Stations are facilitated by the high platforms, which match with the floor height of the train that is how wheelchair users will not have any problems with getting on the train. Except for stations in Bank, Cutty Shark, Island Gardens and Woolwich Arsenal, other stations are unstaffed. It means that nobody works there. When it comes to tickets, passengers have one-day and DLR-only tickets available. Users can also use the Oyster pay-as-you-go cards. They are no ticket barriers at DLR stations but is does not mean that you can travel without a valid ticket.

DLR Numbers

You have to buy the ticket in the ticket machine at the entrance to the platform and tickets are required before entering the platform. In the year of the DLR opening the number of the passengers was 17 million. In 2009 the number grew to 64 million, in 2011 over 80million passengers and in 2014 the number was over 1100 million people traveling by the London DLR! Without the London Docklands Light Railway, millions of people would have to travel by busses or tubes but thanks to such an amazing service, people have a great alternative of transport in London!